My preference has always been Nickel. Stainless strings feel rougher to me, and to my ears, have less mids in them. I did use stainless Rotosounds for a while, and liked them more than the Blue Steels I was using before them, but then I found out Rotosound made nickels about 8 years ago, and haven't bought a stainless set since.

I've never cared for SS strings. Most of the ones I've used have felt a lot rougher than their nickle counterpart, and they always seem to have stiffer tension (though that might be my brain playing tricks on me).

I've never cared for SS strings. Most of the ones I've used have felt a lot rougher than their nickle counterpart, and they always seem to have stiffer tension (though that might be my brain playing tricks on me).

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Have you played DR Hi-Beams? They are very smooth and have a lot less tension compared with Rotosounds Swing 66 and La Bella Hard Rockin' Steels. Hi-Beams are the best bass strings ever in my opinion.

I like nickels, for the warmer sound, also I find them more consistent over their life than ss - when ss are new they're very bright and twangy (tho' kind of fun) when played in loose this and the warm-up a bit.

Interesting that many say they find nickel smoother feeling than ss. When new, I find nickels definitely have a unique feel to them, that I don't quite know how to describe (although this quickly goes during playing in).

I've been using SS for about 25 years because I like the tone and I'm a creature of habit. I make adjustments with my tone knob for different songs and venues. I started this thread because I was getting ready to buy some new strings (I do that every couple of years) and was wondering what other bassists preferred and why. I appreciate all the various opinions. I guess it comes down to personal preference and how we define our own unique and individual voice.

Sorry, man, your comparison just doesn't work. You are playing two totally different styles and in doing so, play with a totally different technique in a different tonal range of the bass. You should play the exact same thing with both sets of strings to make the comparison. I can't tell the difference because there is too much difference...